


BAD ROBOT

by rennitz



Series: Android!Duo [2]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: android!Duo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 05:54:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10915668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rennitz/pseuds/rennitz
Summary: Android Duo has been sold and things look grim. Matters escalate higher and higher until the worst happens.





	BAD ROBOT

"Chang, it's Captain Yuy. There's been an incident and we need you here. One of yours has gone rogue, killed its owner. Three of my officers tried to detain it and... Chang, it liquidated them and barely moved. I didn't see it move and my officers were down. We've got the place surrounded but I don't know what we can do. Maybe you can help. We're at Griffith and Oak, you'll know when you're here. Hurry."

\-------

Being sent away from Wufei had probably been the worst thing that could have happened to Duo. The android had felt a deep bond to his tester and had grown to believe that they would be partners forever- Duo had even had thoughts of helping Wufei test his successors, watching androids more advanced than he undergo his master's tests. It was going to be an ideal life and Duo was gladly anticipating it. 

But that wasn't to be.

Powers higher than Wufei reviewed the data collected so far and determined that Duo was sufficient to sell. So it was that a buyer was found for the purple-eyed android and Duo was sent off to his new home. Duo was deeply saddened but did as he was told. For weeks, he merely followed his programming, serving his new master in the man's house- cleaning, cooking, and tending to matters of the house. It was one hell of a task- the man was filthy and disgusting, leaving food and clothes laying around, but also leaving come stains and even sometimes other bodily waste around for Duo to clean. His name was refused of him, the man preferring to call him "android" or "piece of shit". Duo was never allowed the full amount of rest he needed, only able to catch sleep here and there as he could. Food was scarce for the android as well and limited to what the human didn't eat and was thrown away.

The first time Duo made himself a small meal, the man was furious. He'd smacked the sandwich out of Duo's hands as hard as he could and proceeded to beat him with a metal pole. Duo had been left on the floor, a mess of broken parts and reddish oil that the man had ordered cleaned before morning. Duo hurt, hurt in ways he'd never deemed possible, but his programming demanded he obey. It had become cold and hard since leaving Wufei, a defensive protocol to protect his consciousness, and it didn't allow for any sort of weakness. Hurting, Duo had obeyed his master, though he couldn't completely repair himself.

Weeks went on and Duo was forced to continue his tasks in his state of disrepair without any mercy shown to him. He wasn't allowed to falter a single bit in his services lest he be punished. His skin flaked off, and he was punished. He lost the use of his right arm and was punished. He lost sight in his left eye and was punished. But it was when the sensors in his hair stopped working that his protocols went red. He stopped moving and locked up, bright purple eyes going dark with a low whir. His master, of course, noticed, and rose up again to punish the machine. Duo's security system kicked in high and his eyes snapped on brightly red. In that instant,his owner's arm exploded in a mass of bone and muscle, blood splattering all over Duo and the room. Alarms sounded, connecting to the police. Duo eyed them cooly. They would die too.

True to word, Wufei knew when he'd found the place. Sirens were still blaring and lights from squad cars pulsed over the surrounding homes. Someone on a loudspeaker was telling the general public to remain in their homes. 

Wufei parked at the rear of the crowd of authority vehicles, wanting a clear path out for him and Heero if necessary. He could always move closer once he'd seen the severity of the scene. 

Stomach in a solid rock of nerves and adrenaline that had spiked the moment his phone had chimed at four in the morning, Wufei steps from his SUV and looks for the highest concentration of cops. As suspected, he recognizes Heero's silhouette against the dancing colors of police lights and makes his way over at a solid trot. 

"Captain." he says, his voice tight as his black eyes glance to Heero and then to the house they are surrounding. He has a suspicion what lies inside. Who is left inside. Other possibilities flit through his mind, trying to deny his intuition, but he somehow knows the machine he will face this evening and could vomit for the strength of regret that burns in his guts. 

He should have refused. Should have contested the call to sell Duo like some novelty. He should have kept him by his side. He'd been too naive, too stubbornly clinging to his title as a professional with no need of the services from the androids he helped create. But his pride had lied to him; left him blind to the truth. Android or not, he needed Duo. 

Attempting to school his face into the stoic severity the situation called for, he turned his attention back to Heero. "Have you made contact with anyone inside?"

"We tried that," Heero replied grimly with a careful schooling of his expression. He'd seen his share of androids go rogue from the first public introduction, so in reality this wasn't new to him. If anything, with each passing generation, robot homicides were easily halved. The generation before Duo had had maybe five to its name which was a record. Despite all that, Heero still looked very green around the edges. "Three of my finest went in with a trained negotiator as soon as we got here... If you look at the front step, you'll see the red mist left of them. Chang, I didn't see the robot, didn't see it move or anything- they were just suddenly mist. Please tell me that's not a war machine in there."

Inside, Duo was watching through a curtain, pupils red in reddish-violet irises. His defenses were still quite high and didn't look to be letting down any time soon. He knew what the humans were doing, what they'd tried to do and now would be forced to do. Protocol was etched into his mainframe like any other thing. He knew that they'd try to destroy what was left of him with bullets or, if it came to it, they'd detonate an EMP bomb in the house. It wouldn't destroy the structure, just fry all electronics within. Including him. Duo idly wondered if he would have been able to stand something like that were he still whole. As he is, with his arm and leg showing the gears and circuits within as well as wherever else his skin had fallen off, Duo wouldn't stand a rainy day.

Then... He was there. The moment Duo saw Wufei's vehicle, his eyes locked on it while keeping his peripheral sensors on everyone else. Wufei was there. From deep within, an anguished cry rose up to Duo's mouth but was stopped before more than a pained whimper could escape. Wufei was safety, Wufei was fixing, Wufei was right. Duo desperately needed Wufei, but there was every chance that Wufei was just there so that Duo could be safely deactivated and discarded. Afraid and ashamed, Duo retreated further into the house.

The red haze that tinted the area around the home's door frame had not been lost to Wufei. It was a sense that could be controlled or used, this awareness of blood and death and remnants of both. Heero had it, as well. That he was looking a bit unsteady on his feet and felt it necessary to point out the blood concerned Wufei. 

Was Duo a war machine? Not that he'd recognized. He had his particularities, but nothing that had seemed nefarious or anything other than.. special. 

"I don't know." he replies honestly, pulling at the straps of his flak vest as his eyes scan the building. He sees a flutter of movement at one of the drapes. Just a stir of air at the edge of the light fabric. So he's there. 

Wufei turns back to Heero and reaches for his old partner's holster, knowing Heero'd have a spare or three. He tucks the handgun into the back of his pants and unfastens a few caches of his cargo slacks. The gun is for any human left inside. The rest is for Duo. 

Heero watches him skeptically, and Wufei tries to ignore him. He has to go in. The thought processes of this particular machine.. Duo's thoughts run too quickly to approach this any other way. Rationalizing and compromising would be the longest stand-off in Heero's career. Wufei could expedite the process. He needed to see Duo, to hear him and react instinctively to where the android was in his mental capacity. Nobody was more qualified for this task than he. 

Wufei reaches for the rear of his belt and takes a flash grenade in hand, then hands over his only EMP unit. "You see this flash grenade go off, you fry every circuit on the block." Heero looks like he wants to argue, to give the best defense against this rogue machine back to Wufei, but Wufei fixes him with a hard look. "If the android is rogue, it will react violently against me carrying that inside; I'd never have a chance to use it." 

He tightens three more straps and closes his eyes, taking a slow breath and turns back to the house, eyes narrowing in thought. Defensive and Aggressive would be at the forefront, aiming to take on aggressors and threats. Anything else would be at the rear. He walks off without another word to Heero, facing the house directly and stops at the base of the stairs, looking up. 

Unsure how he'll be accepted, he utters under his breath, "Duo.. I'm coming in. Is that alright?" He's not sure why. Even an android wouldn't have been able to pick up the audio under all the background noise, but he felt it necessary. One more breath and he steps away from the front steps, going towards the side of the house and, much to Heero's unease, disappears from view. 

It's quiet back here, comparatively. And cooler. Wufei doesn't know if it’s from being away from all those heated lights or simply the change of atmosphere, the crowding ferns and bushes that line the walkway along the house, but his skin chills. He goes quietly, but not silently, eying windows along the way. He stops just shy of the back porch, underneath what appears to be a small bay window. Perhaps a kitchen. One of the panel glass panes is propped open. 

"Duo?" He tries quietly, "Are you there?", listening intently and ready to jump away from the window above his head if necessary. "Duo, am I safe? Are you a threat to me?" He continues, choosing his words carefully. Inquiring as to the android's state was out of the question. Better to have him focus on external factors he can process without too much internal screening. Wufei would do that for him.

Duo listens for movement, for a barrage of gunfire or an army approaching the house, or even Wufei's voice on a speakerphone trying to soothe him out. The android grips a cabinet with his good hand hard at the thought of hearing his master's voice that loudly, hard enough that a large patch of skin crumbles and falls off. He scowls at that mark of his defectiveness and stands back up, moving to peer out the back window in case he was being crept up on. Sounds make their way to his ears and he turns to the direction, surprised. These humans were trained enough to be able to sneak through foliage like the kind his dead human had silently- so who was the fool-

The voice. His voice.

A squealing, grinding noise escapes Duo's throat when he's addressed. He didn't want to talk to Wufei, but he couldn't let that question go unanswered. He steps closer to the window, leaning against the wall out of Wufei's sight. When he started to speak, his voice was very robotic with very few remnants of his pseudo-human tones. "Are you alone?" He winces at the revelation that his thermal scanners are malfunctioning but continues. "I will not permit anyone else near me but you. Anyone else who tries to come in will die. You... I ... I can't... I can't hurt you."

 

Sensational emotion rocks Wufei at the sound of that broken, stripped voice. Relief that Duo is still functioning and not completely rampant. Grief that it was, in fact, him that made the mess here. A deep, dark longing to protect. To fix this. To fix everything. 

"I'm alone." he rushes to answer, reaching for the window sill above him and peering up into the light of the kitchen. "Duo..." He's not sure what to say. Clearly the other is far from okay and it was going to take some dire maneuvering to get him out of here without being fried by overzealous men of authority circling the block. Various scenarios play out in Wufei's mind, and he has to shut down that thought process, shake his head clear when each one ends badly. 

Assess the android's condition. Narrow down the options. Heero. Right, enlist the help of Heero and keep him informed. Wufei sets his wrist com close to his mouth and lets Heero know he's made contact and that he would be some time, then sets his attention back to the house and its seemingly singular inhabitant. 

"I need to talk to you, Duo. Can I come inside?" his voice is low, soothing. Patient. All the things he had been to Duo during their time together, cultivating him into a fully-functioning societal piece. He had been so prepared, Wufei remembers, and frowns thinking that someone had very quickly undone all of that development. "You need help, don't you?" he tries, hoping the other recognizes the only ally he has at the moment.

Hearing his name from those lips, the emotions Wufei has, still has, for him seems to disarm the android and lower his security protocols immensely. He turns his head away from his tester with a whir and click of gears, deep shame pulsing through him. "I... I'm sorry, Wufei. I did a-a-all I could." His red eyes close as his voice glitches, making him sound like an automaton in a child's restaurant. "He was a t-t-t-terrible man. My neut-t-t-tritional levels are f-f-far below normal, m-m-my epidermal coat-t-t-t-tingg-g-g-g is f-f-falling apart, and..." Tired of hearing himself speak, he nods to his busted limbs. He's quiet a moment before sighing. "But that's not the w-worst."

Duo didn't want to admit it. Didn't want to tell Wufei that the hair they'd spent so long conditioning and grooming was now so much garbage wire. Wufei might understand given the knotted and frayed condition it was in. The once gleaming and healthy rope was now a dull and tangled mess full of knots and stripped fiber optics. "They're g-g-gonna kill me, aren't they?"

The window above Wufei is warm with the light of the kitchen, but the android remains out of sight. It's aching, the heavy anxiety that is building in Wufei's chest the longer he hears Duo speak, or what he can manage through his malfunctions. When Duo pauses between phrases Wufei can only picture the worst, and is hard pressed not to leap up into the window and see the damage himself. 

"They're g-g-gonna kill me, aren't they?"

"No." Wufei answers immediately, common sense telling him he shouldn't promise anything but his intuition speaking volumes louder. Insisting that they are both going to come out the other side of this. That they'll both be given a second chance. That Wufei will be able to make this right. But first Wufei must make good on his word. "I can get you through this, Duo. Trust me. We can work around all of this." his voice is matter-of-fact, while still keeping docile. Softer still, he goes on, "You know I can fix whatever's gone wrong. Just so long as you stay with me, stay... awake. I can replace the rest." 

Wufei glances towards the front of the house, noting the sirens still blaring and lights flashing though the rear of the house is quite a bit less exciting. "Let me help, Duo.. open the back door."

Wufei's promises are gold, are hope and truth and everything Duo needs to hear. He turns and reaches out his good arm to open the door, watching as skin flakes off with the turn of his wrist. He even goes so far as to open the door for the only human he'd ever truly recognize as his master, stepping back to let Wufei in. "P-p-p-please... help me. I d-d-don't want to die. You're here, s-s-so that's a plu-u-us." Disgusted with himself again, Duo sighs through his nose. "Excuse the mess... it's h-h-hard to clean like.... this." Eyes downcast, Duo waits for Wufei to enter, see the filth he lives in and the destruction that's happened to him.

Wufei has to bite back a noise, forcing himself to remain quiet when he sees the ruined arm and hand pulled back from the door. A cursory glance is all the inside of the house gets, Wufei clearing the space of any danger before he's intently focused on the ruined android before him. 

It's heartbreaking. Utter misery fills Wufei's heart as he takes in the mess of his former companion, partner and masterpiece. True to word, Duo has lost more skin than he's kept and his insides grate roughly with sullied hinges and exposed joints. But Duo's countenance is the hardest to witness. The once boisterous android is nearly defeated, sunk in upon himself and so unsure of his future. It's clear he sees himself as a lost cause that has lost its worth. 

Wufei moves several steps forward and hesitates before reaching a hand to Duo's face. A flake of skin crumbles away and Wufei sighs, eyes sad and searching. "Duo." he simply utters, finally faced with the face he'd been missing all this time and it's still the most beautiful one he's seen. "I've missed you." he admits, not knowing what that will solve but feeling it of the utmost importance to say aloud.

Eyes brighten just a touch and look to Wufei with disbelief, not daring to even ask Wufei what he meant for fear it'd be taken back. He knows Wufei would never lie to him, even though he has no way now to verify. All his sensors are down, every single one, with only bits of his memory, optical sensors, aural receptors, and vocal cords working now. He leans his dissolving face into that touch and takes a rattling step closer. "Oh... I'm so sorry... I know I failed you," Duo whispered softly. "You told me n-n-never to hurt a human... but he was t-t-terrible. He was a m-m-monster. But... those cops..." Duo's eyes close to a shower of skin flakes. "They were innocent. They were doin' their j-j-j-j-j-j-j-j-j-o-o-o-o-o-ob-b--b-b-b-b..." Duo stopped speaking a moment with a look of pained frustration up at Wufei, embarrassed completely at his errors. He licks his lips and murmurs softly. "Just help me... I swear I'll explain e-e-e-v-v-vr-r-r..." He grunted metallically and sighed.

True, Duo had killed innocent men. There was no way for Wufei to refute that fact, from what Heero had told him. 

Only there was, Wufei recalls with a shred of hope lingering in his throat. The Duo he had let loose to the world never would have broken that oath. Another android had. One created when the vessel that carried Duo overran all processes for self preservation and had been able to run rampant due to the "..disrepair." Wufei says out loud, his thoughts running fast as he thinks on his feet. 

He sets an eager gaze on Duo and gently holds his shoulders, "It's going to be okay, Duo. You didn't do that. You are not responsible for their deaths. I am going to help you and everyone else understand--" an alarm goes off from Wufei's wrist com unit and he jumps, cursing softly before messaging Heero that he'll be a few more minutes and to stand down. 

"That man neglected you, Duo. He let you continue functioning in complete disrepair. He was in violation of his agreement for android ownership and operation. I know you regret what's happened. Me, too. And I'm sorry. But this wasn't your fault." he stresses, carefully taking Duo into his arms and embracing him.

Duo clung to every word from Wufei's lips, desperate to hear them and daring to hope they were true. Disrepair? Yes, yes he was in disrepair! That's what it was. He wasn't bad, he was broken. Wufei's words flood what's left of his heart and his eyes lose all redness, returning to a dull purple. He hugs Wufei back with overwhelming exhaustion and sighs. "I'm so tired, Wufei. I remember shutting down in the middle of laundry, just... going black. Suddenly, everything's online in red alert and he's missing an arm. The alarms went off in the house. I... think his corpse is still in the laundry room. He bled out. Wufei, I'm tired."

Leaning further against Wufei, Duo's eyes darkened fully as his power supply ran out. His defensive system wasn't needed anymore, so his programming chose that as the best function. Leaning against his tester, his true owner, Duo was probably the safest he could ever be in his mind.

Wufei feels Duo go slack against him and grunts with the added weight. It was manageable, but still far heavier than a typical human even though they'd taken steps to make him as light as possible. The tester cranes his neck to check Duo's eyes, lifting a lid with one thumb and noting the active luminous lights behind them had gone dim, but they were still faintly glowing. Recovery mode, then. 

Sighing with relief, Wufei contacts Heero with an update. The message is terse. Keep your men where they are. That he, and he alone, should approach the rear of the house and come through the back door. Not a minute passes before Heero is carefully entering the kitchen, stopping to stand in the threshold with his hand on the butt of his gun at his hip. 

"It's fine, he's shut down completely... power failure, but not lost." he adds at Heero's inquisitive expression. Wufei struggles to hold Duo upright and reach for his pocket at the same time, but sighs and simply heaves Duo higher in his arms. "My pocket- get my keys. There's an alleyway behind the back fence, pull the car around and keep everyone away. He won't come online without a serious jump, but I'm sure your men are on edge." 

Rightly so. Even Wufei wasn't sure what had happened to the men who had been nearly liquified. A weapon of war, Heero had warned, and Wufei didn't know. "I've an idea what's happened, but..", Wufei doesn't know where else to turn. Duo is in his hands, his arms of protection, and he cannot fail him. Wufei needs an ally of his own. He looks pleadingly to Heero, "I need your help."

Heero listens closely, eyes flicking between Duo and Wufei while thinking. If Wufei said the android was offline, then he was offline. He reaches for the keys carefully still- after what he'd seen, he wouldn't put it past the thing to power back on. The comment of his men being on edge was a severe understatement- most of Heero's worry and caution had stemmed from the fact that the EMP trigger was in his back pocket. If he'd left it with his men, Duo would be dead by now. Wufei's expression tugs at Heero's empathy but he takes firm hold of it. He was a cop first.

"I need your word that it won't do this again, Wufei. I can't let you take it without that fact unless you guarantee me that it'll be destroyed if you can't fix it. I don't know why this one's so special, but no matter what, I can't let that loose again. If you can promise me that, completely fixed or destroyed, then I will help you."

Wufei nods once in agreement, his mind quick to realize Heero is completely correct. The queasiness in his stomach is two seconds behind, digesting what that promise meant. It meant decommissioning Duo. It meant killing him. But Heero was right. 

"Yes, of course. You have my word. If I cannot fix him, he will be destroyed on-site." Wufei doesn't bother trying to change his terms for the machine. 'He' had always trumped 'it', even in the earliest stages of development, but he understood Heero's point of view as well. 

Wufei hoists Duo higher in his arms again, the android becoming more difficult to support. "Help me get him in the car. If his backup fails we risk losing valuable data to analyze from tonight." he explains, hoping to pique Heero's quest for answers and resolve into action. 

They needed to get the android to Wufei's lab and buckle down security. "You'll have to decide where you want to be." Wufei adds as they begin gingerly maneuvering the heavy rag doll body out the back door. "With me or with your men. Once I start I won't permit coming or going. The work is too delicate. Subject too dangerous." he adds, frowning as they set Duo against the back of the house so Heero can go fetch their vehicle.

The moment that Wufei gives him his word, Heero visibly relaxes. He trusts the scientist implicitly, a trust that went back years and would not be easily broken. He doesn't question the pronouns that Wufei uses because the android is his thing (and a very personal thing to judge by what he's witnessed tonight), merely nodding and opening the door for the two while making sure that they hadn't been followed by someone too trigger happy.

"Keep him hidden behind you as much as you can," Heero advises gravely. "No one will shoot at you, but if someone thinks they can be a hero and take a shot at the 'killer android', then they'll risk it. The fame would be enough to counteract my punishment. Stay here. Please." With one last look to Duo, Heero goes back around front to collect his car. He ignores the questions he gets in favor of delivering strict orders to maintain their positions barring further orders. He drives around the backside of the house in the alley  
indicated and gets out to help Wufei get Duo inside. 

"I'll get you to your lab and inside, but once we're there, I'm going to stay outside with my men. Without me, there's every chance that they'll try to end this thing's life. I don't know why this robot's so important to you, Wufei, but it is and that's all that matters to me. I'll help you get it back to your lab. Come on."

The situation mutes the full effect, but Wufei is deeply touched and grateful for the support Heero is showing him. He is putting his career and his life on the line on Wufei's word. He'd have to thank him properly when this is all over. 

When Heero leaves, Wufei is left alone with the bulk that is what's left of his most cherished creation. A deep sorrow sits heavy in his stomach, and he exhales, momentarily resting his head beside Duo's. It's a quiet moment shared, and even though Duo is powered down, Wufei whispers a promise to have him back as good as new, if not better. 

By the time Heero pulls back around, Wufei is all business and ready to get this move underway. They struggle to get the android in the van, watchful of the men crouched around corners and ducking behind car doors, all eyes trained on them. It's unsettling, the air crackling with tension and hostility and fear. 

Heero sits in behind the wheel and Wufei gets in the back with Duo, strapping him in and beginning a preliminary once-over as they drive. 

"Thank you." Wufei says aloud, not bothering to look at Heero as he makes their way carefully towards Wufei's home and lab. "He shouldn't have been there... this shouldn't have happened. Something went horribly wrong." he continues, talking more to himself. Several more quiet moments pass as they drive, Wufei grazing hands over the ruined outer skin of his android. He finally looks to Heero. 

"I appreciate you taking my word. I know it wasn't easy, considering what's been done." he says, meaning the apparent murders of several men this evening. "I'm truly sorry for the loss of your men. But the man inside the house?" he leads, eyes getting hard, "I assure you, whatever happened of him, he deserved it."

Heero took a breath as he drove, hands working on the steering wheel a bit. "My men... They'll be properly mourned and their family's compensated. I would seriously advise that you make that thing disappear for a very long time, Wufei. If you can fix it, don't you dare let it out in public for at least a year. It's unique and people will remember it. Keep it at your lab, your house, what have you. Since you didn't destroy it then and there, that clearly wasn't it's proper function, so I don't hate it. I want to know what its owner did to make it do that. Soon as you find out, I want a report. I'm going to need something to tell these families and the rest of my men."

It wasn't too long after that that they got to Wufei's lab. It took an effort to get Duo to a secured elevator (news had travelled to the labs quickly), but Heero managed it. They managed to reach the right level fairly easily once inside the elevator and Wufei was escorted to the door where Heero left him to stand guard outside. It didn't take long for a squad of police to arrive, but his presence made them feel better. They brought word that the owner of the company would be along shortly, but for now it was just Wufei inside.

Duo's body was nearly skinless at this point, just cracked casings and exposed wires and gears now. The diagnostic equipment didn't take long at all to provide a detailed list of just what was wrong with the prototype android.

>Structural Integrity: HIGHLY COMPROMISED, IMMEDIATE REPAIR REQUIRED  
>Software performance: SEVERE MALFUNCTION DETECTED  
>Memory Integrity: UNKNOWN  
>Biological functions: CEASED, RESERVE POWER MODE IN EFFECT  
>Super Solenoid Engine: NON-FUNCTIONAL  
>Reserve Power: 0%  
>  
>  
>  
>WARNING. ALTERNATIVE DEFENSIVE MEASURES HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED.   
>ANDROID IS HIGHLY UNSTABLE AND A POTENTIAL THREAT.   
>EXTREME CAUTION ADVISED.


End file.
